ArticleEpidemiology and health2021
The effects of information-seeking behaviours on prevention behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating effects of anxiety and fear in Korea.
Article in Epidemiology and health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Conspiracy Beliefs, Institutional Mistrust, and Health-Related Behaviours During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Burkina Faso: A Mediation Analysis.The International journal of health planning and management · 2026Article
- Decreasing prevalence in sickness presenteeism before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from repeated Korean national surveys.Journal of occupational health · 2026Article
- Cohort profile: Cardiovascular Metabolic Etiological Research Center COVID-19 Mental Health Survey (CC-MHS).Epidemiology and health · 2025Article
- Motivational and behavioral mechanisms underlying generalized health risking behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic in smokers.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Continuous Postpandemic Increase in the Use of Nutrition Fact Labels Among Korean Adults: A Weighted Multiyear Analysis of a Nationwide Survey.Clinical nutrition research · 2024Article
- Exploring the relationship between older adults' online health information seeking, negative emotions and prevention behaviors in the pandemic context: a two-wave longitudinal study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Perceptions and Information-Seeking Behavior Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination Among Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease in 2023: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Canadian journal of kidney health and disease · 2024Article
- "It Bothered Me": The Mental Burden of COVID-19 Media Reports on Community-Dwelling Elderly People.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Article
- Coronavirus disease 2019 information-seeking behavior globally: a systematic review.SAGE open medicine · 2023Review
- Fear of COVID-19 and Prevention Behaviors: Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- The Effects of Information-Seeking Behaviors on Risk Perception During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Correlational Survey.Psychology research and behavior management · 2022Article
- Association between fear of COVID-19 and hoarding behavior during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of mental health status.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Assessing Knowledge, Preventive Practices, and Depression Among Chinese International Students and Local Korean Students in South Korea During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Online Cross-Sectional Study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesIdentifying determinants of prevention behaviours during the emergence of a new infectious disease is important. We investigated the associations between information-seeking and prevention behaviours during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and mediating effects of psychiatric factors.
methodsIn total, 1,970 participants from the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Etiology Research Center cohort participated in an online survey 55 days after the first COVID-19 case in Korea was diagnosed. Time spent seeking information related to COVID-19; information sources; psychiatric factors, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and the fear of COVID-19; and prevention behaviours were examined. The mediating effect of psychiatric factors was estimated using mediation analysis.
resultsTime spent seeking information and information sources affected several behavioural responses. In men, anxiety mediated associations between information-seeking and prevention behaviours, including purchasing sanitary supplies (effect size [ES], 0.038; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.002 to 0.095) and hoarding (ES, 0.029; 95% CI, 0.002 to 0.068). The fear of COVID-19 also mediated associations between information-seeking and prevention behaviours including refraining from going out (men: ES, 0.034; 95% CI, 0.009 to 0.068; women: ES, 0.052; 95% CI, 0.030 to 0.080), wearing face masks (men: ES, 0.085; 95% CI, 0.031 to 0.184), avoiding public transportation (men: ES, 0.020; 95% CI, 0.000 to 0.044; women: ES, 0.031; 95% CI, 0.015 to 0.051), hoarding (women: ES, 0.051; 95% CI, 0.029 to 0.792), and trying alternative remedies (men: ES, 0.024; 95% CI, 0.004 to 0.053). Depressive symptoms and PTSS did not have any mediating effects.
conclusionsWhile the availability of information related to COVID-19 can help prevent infections, it can also promote anxiety and fear, leading to negative behaviours such as hoarding and trying unverified alternative treatments.
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